Transformation - The Start Of A New Life

Chapter 23

Tony opened the wooden door for me while the music started. Dozens of faces turned my way and people let out adoring sighs. But I only cared about one pair of eyes. While Tony was leading me down the aisle the only thing I saw was Bucky, waiting for me at the end. The smile that lit up his face was meant for no one but me. As nervous as I had been outside, now that I was looking into the eyes of my true love all tension was gone. I wanted this more than anything and now it was finally here. Never have I been more sure of anything and that combined with the fact that I knew that Bucky felt the exact same way made me completely calm.

When we reached the end Tony gave my hand to Bucky and hugged him while whispering something in his ear. He then took his place in the front row next to Pepper. After he gave me one last wink I turned to Bucky. I smiled at him and whispered, "You look marvelous". "So do you.", he answered. Our officiant Bruce Banner raised his voice. "We are gathered today, in holy matrimony to witness how Steve and Bucky enter the sacred life of marriage. Before god and all of your beloved you will speak your vows and be bonded forever.", the next words he directed to the audience, "If anyone knows any reason why these two should not be married he shall speak now or be forever silent."

I held my breath and listened for any tiny noise. But it stayed silent. After a few moments Tony spoke up, "Get on with it already. They are perfect for each other and everybody knows that". Quiet laughter filled the room and Bruce continued. "Steve, please repeat after me. I, Steve, take you Bucky", I repeated, "I, Steve, take you, Bucky", "To be my lovely wedded husband", "To be my lovely wedded husband", "In sickness and in health, for richer or poorer", "In sickness and in health, for richer or poorer", Till death do us part.", "Till death do us part."

"Now Bucky, repeat after me. I, Bucky, take you, Steve", "I, Bucky, take you, Steve", "To be my lovely wedded husand", "To be my lovely wedded husband", "In sickness and in health, for richer or poorer", "In sickness and in health, for richer or poorer", "Till death do us part.", "Till death do us part."

"Now your self written vows." Bucky spoke up first, "When we first met we were just two kids in Brooklyn. You were always trying to save the world and not for a second did I doubt that you would. I know that you felt weak in that time. But the truth is, you were never weak. Yes, you tended to get sick and yes, you lost every fight you got yourself into. But the one thing you never did was give up. You always stood up for what you believed in and you always did what you felt was right. I admired you so much for that. I still do. Because no matter how strong you get or what they put into your body, you will always be that guy from Brooklyn. Everybody thought you could never make it into the army. But you believed you would. And I knew you could do it. Because you can do anything you set your mind to. You are the strongest and most engaged person that I have ever met. To this day it still amazes me that somebody as perfect as you wants to spend the rest of their life with little old me. You tend to sell yourself short but I will always remind you that you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. And I will prove to you every day how much I love you. I can't pinpoint the exact moment that I fell in love with you but since that day this feeling has been a constant valuable in my life and I will never let that go. You made me a better person and I can't imagine anything better than waking up next to you every morning for all mornings to come. You are my happily ever after and I will be with you. Till the end of the line."

Then it was my turn. I had originally written my vows down but I didn't want to read from a paper and I knew exactly what I wanted to tell the love of my life. Tears were filling up my eyes as I started to speak, "I am so damn in love with you Bucky. I don't think I can put into words just how much I love you. When you came into my life you gave me something I didn't even know I needed. Everytime you saved me I grew more fond of you. You were my knight in shining armor and although I didn't want to need help you were still there. I knew from the beginning that you would always be there for me. You opened your heart for me and maybe sooner than I realised I was falling for you. Not just because you rescued me from fights I had foolishly gotten myself into but because you saw me. You listened to what I had to say and you cared. I had missed so much beauty of this world because I was so desperately trying to save it that I failed to stop and see what it already had to offer. You opened my eyes to that beauty and by doing that you showed me something more beautiful than anything nature could offer. Before we met I didn't know what love felt like. I didn't know what it meant to feel completely safe. Not only did I feel comfortable telling you about everything I was thinking but I wanted to tell you. I want you to know every single piece of me and I will always be honest. Right now, infront of all our friends, I want to tell you that the one thing I have always wanted is looking me straight in the eye. My heart beats like a sledgehammer when I'm around you.", I shrugged.

"I'm sorry, that was too cheesy, wasn't it?", Bucky shook his head and let out a little laugh. "Anyways, what I'm meaning to say is that nobody has ever made me feel the way you do. When you are not at my side I wish that you were and in my dreams the only face I see is yours. The thought of you fills my mind all night and day. You are the most loving and caring person I know and I don't ever want to be without you. I knew all that even before we got together. We lost a lot of time pretending things were different. Your friendship has been the most important thing to me for as long as I remember. And I will do everything I can to make up for that lost time. Now that I finally have you there won't be a second when you have to doubt that I love you with all my heart and soul and I will never let you go."

I took a deep breath, "I remember the incident at the Hydra base like it was yesterday. You know how guilty I felt. I thought I would never be able to forgive myself and I told myself that I didn't deserve to be happy, especially not with you. The pain I felt when I thought you were dead is indescribable. My heart dropped, my breathing fastened and I was covered in cold sweat. It was like the world stopped for a moment and everything came crumbling down. I felt like I would never be able to breathe again. I was certain I would never be happy again. If you ever actually died a piece of me would die too, a very big piece. You are my other half, you complete me. I never ever want to lose you and feel that pain again. You are the most important part of me and I honestly don't think that I would be alive today if you hadn't been there. You may say that I could save the world, but you did something much more incredible than that. You saved my world. You saved me. I hope I can do the same for you. Or maybe I already did. You gave me more than you will ever know and I can't thank you enough. No matter how strong you think I was before I met you, I wasn't. You're the one who gave me most of my strength. We make each other better, stronger. I don't ever want to be without you and I will never let you down. I promise you that you are the most important thing in my life. I will always be with you. No matter where or how we are, I will always love you. Till the end of the line."

As I finished I wasn't the only one who was crying. Tears were searching their way down Bucky's cheeks and when I put my hand against his face to wipe them away, he grabbed it and placed a kiss on my palm. "That was perfect.", he said, "You are perfect". I leaned forward to give him a kiss but I was stopped by an arm that pushed me back. It was Bruce. "I hate to interrupt but that is a later part of the ceremony. Now, if you allow, I will continue. May I ask the ring bearer to step forward?" Tony got up and handed him a small pillow which held two rings on it. "James Buchanan Barnes, do you take Steven Rogers as your husband till death does you part?" "I do", Bucky answered. His voice was strong and his tone determined. But his hand was shaking a little as he put the ring on my finger. "Steven Rogers, do you take James Buchanan to be your husband till death does you part?" "I do". My hand was shaking even more than Bucky's but I managed to put the ring on his finger without letting it fall. "And now the moment you have been waiting for. You may finally kiss one another". And kiss each other we did. He grabbed me by my tie and we pressed our lips together like it was the first time. And in some way it was. This was our first kiss as a married couple. Neither one of us wanted to let go but eventually we remembered the situation we were in and ended the kiss. Instead I took his hand and intertwined our fingers as we turned to face all our friends. The applause was thrown back from the walls and created a completely unique sound that I would never forget. My glance went over to my boyfriend, no, my husband. It was amazing to be able to call him that. The smile on his face was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen and like a reflex I pulled him close and gave him another kiss which he instantly returned. This moment was nothing short from perfect.

×××××

There you have it, folks. They are a happy married couple. I will write an epilogue and that will be the end of this story.

I am terribly sorry that this part took me so long but I wanted it to be the best it could be. I hope it didn't disappoint. I had a lot of fun with this story and if I did my job right then you did too. Hopefully I will see you for another project in the future.

That's all from me for now. Hope you enjoy and all that's left to say is bye. See you soon!